Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-bp2c4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-21T19:14:57.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia spp.—A Spine-Tingling Tale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael S. DeFelice
Michael S. DeFelice*
Affiliation:
ThunderSnow Interactive, 5720 Wentworth Drive, Johnston, IA 50131
*
E-mail: defelicems@thundersnow.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

“Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o'clock in the morning.”

The Hollow Men, T. S. Eliot (1925).

Information

Type
Intriguing World of Weeds
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 869 - 877
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

No. 81 of the series “Intriguing World of Weeds.”

References

Literature Cited

Anaya-Perez, M. 2001. History of the use of Opuntia as forage in Mexico. in Mondragon-Jacobo, C. and Perez-Gonzalez, S., ed. Cactus (Opuntia spp.) as Forage. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 169. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Pp. 5–12.Google Scholar
Bailey, L. H. 1949. Manual of Cultivated Plants. New York: MacMillan. 1116 p.Google Scholar
Barbera, G., Carimi, F., and Inglese, P. 1992. Past and present role of the Indian-fig prickly pear [Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, Cactaceae] in the agriculture of Sicily. Econ. Bot 46:10–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbera, G., Inglese, P., and Pimienta-Barrios, E. 1995. Agro-ecology, Cultivation and Uses of Cactus Pear. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 132. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 216 p.Google Scholar
Barkley, T. M. ed. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p.Google Scholar
Benson, L. 1982. The Cacti of the United States and Canada. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1044 p.Google Scholar
Benson, L. and Walkington, D. L. 1965. The southern Californian prickly pears: invasion, adulteration, and trial-by-fire. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard 52:252–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergon, F. ed. 1989. The Journals of Lewis and Clark. New York: Penguin. 505 p.Google Scholar
Correll, D. S. and Johnston, M. C. 1979. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Richardson, TX: University of Texas at Dallas. 1881 p.Google Scholar
Dodd, A. P. 1940. The Biological Campaign Against Prickly-Pear. Brisbane, Australia: Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board. 28 p.Google Scholar
Donkin, R. A. 1977. Spanish red: an ethnographic study of cochineal and the Opuntia cactus. Trans. Am. Philos. Soc 67:1–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duke, J. A., Bogenschutz-Godwin, M. J., duCellier, J., and Duke, P. K. 2002. Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC. 870 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eliot, T. S. 1963. T. S. Eliot: Collected Poems, 1909–1962. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. 221 p.Google Scholar
Evans, E. H. 1967. They color things red. Pac. Discov 20:24–25.Google Scholar
Freeman, D. B. 1992. Prickly pear menace in Eastern Australia 1880–1940. Geogr. Rev 82:413–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frego, K. A. and Staniforth, R. J. 1985. Factors determining the distribution of Opuntia fragilis in the boreal forest of southeastern Manitoba. Can. J. Bot 63:2377–2382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fullaway, D. T. 1954. Biological control of cactus in Hawaii. J. Econ. Bot 47:696–700.Google Scholar
Gerard, J. 1633. The Herbal or General History of Plants. Reprint 1975. New York: Dover. 1676 p. (Revised and enlarged by Thomas Johnson.).Google Scholar
Gleason, H. A. and Cronquist, A. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York: New York Botanical Garden. 910 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gledhill, D. 1989. The Names of Plants. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 202 p.Google Scholar
Griffiths, D. 1905. The Prickly Pear and Other Cacti as Food for Stock. USDA Bull. 74. Washington, DC: Bureau of Plant Industry, Government Printing Office. 53 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffiths, D. and Hare, R. F. 1907. The Tuna as Food for Man. USDA Bull. 116. Washington, DC: Bureau of Plant Industry, Government Printing Office. 74 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harborne, J. B., Baxter, H., and Moss, G. P. 1999. Phytochemical Dictionary: A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. London: Taylor & Francis. 976 p.Google Scholar
Hegwood, D. A. 1990. Human health discoveries with Opuntia sp. (prickly pear). Hortscience 25:1515–1516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickman, J. C. ed. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1400 p.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, J. H., Moran, V. C., and Zeller, D. A. 1998. Long-term population studies and the development of an integrated management programme for control of Opuntia stricta in Kruger National Park, South Africa. J. Appl. Ecol 35:156–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, J. H. and Zimmermann, H. G. 1999. Getting to grips with a spiny problem. Veld Flora 85:128–129.Google Scholar
Holm, L. G., Pancho, J. V., Herberger, J. P., and Plucknett, D. L. 1991. A Geographical Atlas of World Weeds. Malabar, FL: Krieger. 391 p.Google Scholar
Inglese, P., Basile, F., and Schirra, M. 2002. Cactus pear fruit production. in Nobel, P. S., ed. Cacti: Biology and Uses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Pp. 163–179.Google Scholar
Ishikawa, M. and Gusta, L. V. 1996. Freezing and heat tolerance of Opuntia cacti native to the Canadian prairie provinces. Can. J. Bot. 1890–1895.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kindscher, K. 1992. Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie—An Ethnobotanical Guide. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 340 p.Google Scholar
Koch, K. E. and Kennedy, R. A. 1980. Effects of seasonal changes in the Midwest on crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Oecologia 45:390–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kraft, K. and Kraft, P. 1967. Luther Burbank—The Wizard and the Man. New York: Meredith. 270 p.Google Scholar
Krockmal, A. and Krockmal, C. 1973. A Guide to the Medicinal Plants of the United States. New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book. 259 p.Google Scholar
Mabberley, D. J. 1997. The Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 858 p.Google Scholar
McCarty, L. B., Everest, J. W., Hall, D. W., Murphy, T. R., and Yelverton, F. 2001. Color Atlas of Turfgrass Weeds. Chelsea, MI: Ann Arbor Press. 269 p.Google Scholar
Meckes-Lozyoa, M. and Roman-Ramos, R. 1986. Opuntia streptacantha: a coadjutor in the treatment of Diabetes mellitus. Am. J. Chin. Med 14:116–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mellink, E. and Riojas-Lopez, M. E. 2002. Consumption of platyopuntias by wild vertebrates. in Nobel, P. S., ed. Cacti: Biology and Uses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Pp. 109–123.Google Scholar
Migaki, G., Hinson, L. E., Imes, G. D. Jr., and Garner, F. M. 1969. Cactus spines in tongues of slaughtered cattle. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc 155:1489–1492.Google ScholarPubMed
Mohamed-Yassen, Y., Barringer, S. A., and Splittstoesser, W. E. 1996. A note on the uses of Opuntia spp. in Central/North America. J. Arid Environ 32:347–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondragon-Jacobo, C. and Perez-Gonzalez, S. 2001. Cactus (Opuntia spp.) as Forage. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 169. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 146 p.Google Scholar
Moran, V. C. 1980. The biological control of Opuntia aurantiaca in South Africa: evaluation and emerging control strategies. in Del Fosse, E. S. ed. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. Brisbane, Australia: Professional Development Centre. Pp. 383–387.Google Scholar
Quattrocchi, U. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Volume 4. Boca Raton, FL: CRC. 2896 p.Google Scholar
Raven, J. E. 2000. Plants and Plant Lore in Ancient Greece. Oxford, UK: Leopard's Head. 106 p.Google Scholar
Reynolds, S. G. and Arias, E. 2001. Introduction. in Mondragon-Jacobo, C. and Perez-Gonzalez, S., ed. Cactus (Opuntia spp.) as Forage. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 169. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Pp. 1–4.Google Scholar
Russell, C. E. and Felker, P. 1987. The prickly-pears (Opuntia spp., Cactaceae): a source of human and animal food in semiarid regions. Econ. Bot 41:433–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sawaya, W. N., Khatchadourian, H. A., Safi, W. M., and Al-Muhammad, H. M. 1983. Chemical characterizaion of prickly pear pulp, Opuntia ficus-indica, and the manufacturing of prickly pear jam. J. Food Technol 18:183–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Small, J. K. 1933. Manual of the Southeastern Flora. New York: Small. 1554 p.Google Scholar
Smith, S. D., Didden-Zopfy, B., and Nobel, P. S. eds. 1984. High-temperature responses of North Amercian cacti. Ecologia 65:643–651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stintzing, F. C., Schieber, A., and Carle, R. 2001. Phytochemical and nutritional significance of cactus pear. Eur. Food Res. Technol 212:396–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stubbendieck, J., Friisoe, G. Y., and Bolick, M. R. 1994. Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains. Lincoln, NE: Nebraska Department of Agriculture. 589 p.Google Scholar
Valiente-Banuet, A. and Godinez-Alvarez, H. 2002. Population and community ecology. in Nobel, P. S., ed. Cacti: Biology and Uses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Pp. 91–108.Google Scholar
Vickery, R. 1995. A Dictionary of Plant Lore. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 437 p.Google Scholar
Wallace, R. S. and Gibson, A. C. 2002. Evolution and systematics. in Nobel, P. S., ed. Cacti: Biology and Uses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Pp. 1–22.Google Scholar
Whitson, T. D., Burrill, L. C., Dewey, S. A., Cudney, D. W., Nelson, B. E., Lee, R. D., and Parker, R. 2001. Weeds of the West. 9th ed. Jackson, WY: Western Society of Weed Science, Western United States Land Grant Universities, and the Cooperative Extension Service.Google Scholar
Zimmermann, H. G. and Malan, D. E. 1980. The role of imported natural enemies in suppressing re-growth of prickly pear, Opuntia ficus-indica, in South Africa. in Del Fosse, E. S. ed. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. Brisbane, Australia: Professional Development Centre. Pp. 375–381.Google Scholar
Zomlefer, W. B. 1994. Guide to Flowering Plant Families. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press. 430 p.Google Scholar